my $sth = $dbh->prepare(q{
   SELECT x, y, z FROM table1, table2
   WHERE x = ?, y = ?
   ORDER BY z
});

##</code><code>##

$dbh->do('delete from temp where x = ?', undef, $x);

##</code><code>##

$sth->execute;
$sth->bind_column(\$res);
$sth->fetch;

##</code><code>##

$sth->execute;
unless (@cols = $sth->fetchrow_array) {
   # error
}